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25 Graphic Novelists Tell Us Their Favorite Children’s Books

This week is the 96th annual Children’s Book Week and, for the first time, they are making comics a focus. For the week's Children’s Choice Book Awards, six of the 35 finalists are graphic novels. This has already been a big year for kid’s comics, with graphic novels like This One Summer and El Deafo winning major children’s and Y.A. book awards like the Caldecott and Newbery, respectively.

I asked 25 authors of the most popular graphic novels for kids to tell us about the children’s book that has had the biggest effect on their life and work.

1. Raina Telgemeier on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

"My favorite children’s book is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien. I saw the film it inspired (The Secret of NIMH) first, when I was five, and a year or two later my mom read me the chapter book. That was the first time I really grasped the concept of adaptation from one medium to another, and in this case, I thought the book was far superior! The characters had real emotional depth, and the story had a lot of morals to chew on. But first and foremost, the language in Mrs. Frisby is gorgeous and has really stuck with me. It’s a book I’ve read over and over again throughout the course of my life, and my love for it has only grown stronger with time.

- Raina TelgemeierRaina is the author of the New York Times bestselling graphic novels Sisters, Smile, and the graphic novel adaptations of The Baby-Sitters Club series.

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2. Mariko Tamaki on Alligator Pie

"My favorite children's book is Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee.

I can't help but think your favorite has something to do with what was read to you when you were young. My mother and father read Alligator Pie to me when I was little. I think it grooved with their silly senses of humor, which is now my silly sense of humor. Also, there's something about Dennis Lee's writing, combined with Frank Newfeld's illustrations, that's strange and dreamy, which I love in poetry and children's lit."

- Mariko TamakiMariko is the co-author of the Caldecott and Printz Honor-winning graphic novel This One Summer and the Ignatz Award-winning Skim.

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3. Mike Maihack on Where The Wild Things Are

"Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The art. Even as a kid, the art really grabbed me. There was so much detail poured into these giant, amazing, yellow-eyed monsters partying with a small kid in a wolf suit. And he was their king! I loved how accepting the wild things were to Max (perhaps too much so, not wanting him to leave). If things got rough, this was a place both of us could go.

Now as an adult I still love the book. I read it to my three-year-old son. Part of me thinks, 'Man, why didn’t I think this was scary when I was his age?' An absurd notion since he’s just as into seeing the wild things roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth as I was."

- Mike MaihackMike is the author of the Cleopatra in Space series, book two of which is now available from the Scholastic Graphix line.

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4. Cece Bell on Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm

"My favorite children's book is a big, glorious picture book called Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen.

I got this book as a gift in 1975, very soon after a scary two-week stint in a hospital battling meningitis. I had just gotten my first hearing aids, and was visiting my grandmother in Fremont, NC. My uncle Wallace brought the book to Dot's house; he was dressed up that day for church and had taken his shoes off so that he could sit up on Dot's bed with me and read the book to me. Whether or not I understood what he was saying that day I don't remember—but those funny, sweet, and wonderful illustrations showing life on a farm took me away from all my recent troubles that day. The book showed me a completely different experience than my life in the city and it started a life-long fascination with simpler ways of living. I read and re-read that book over and over and over, always marveling in the inventory-like collection of farm animals and their unique quirks and individual stories. The full-spread illustration of Max the cat remains my favorite illustration in any book, ever.

I've revisited Our Animal Friends many times as an adult too. It's one of those rare picture books that reminds me of my kid self, while rewarding me with subtle nuances made clear only by life experience. I appreciate the book even more now than I did as a kid; the writing is perhaps some of the very best in its matter-of-fact but kind and sometimes silly tone, and the ending is so profoundly moving that I can barely think about it or type these words without tearing up."

- Cece BellCece is the author of the Newbery Honor winning graphic novel El Deafo and the Geisel Honor winning children's book Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover.

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5. Chris Eliopoulos on The Giving Tree

"The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien taught me about unconditional love. There’s something wonderfully simple in the tale and the execution. The simple line drawings and the tight dialogue really had an impact on me. I realize now that you can read into the story that the tree is a parent. As a child I didn’t get that, but after having my own kids, it’s crystal clear.

So, I loved the book for one reason as a child and a different one as an adult and that is the mark of genius. It has multiple meanings and new things can be discovered in its rereading."

- Chris EliopoulosChris is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling Ordinary People Change the World series, the next book of which (I am Lucille Ball) will be in stores in July.

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6. Nilah Magruder on Snot Stew

“So this was really hard, but in the end I have to go with Snot Stew by Bill Wallace,the book I checked out multiple times from the school library and loved so much I never wanted to give it back (I did...I'm pretty sure I did). I was a kid growing up in the country with an older brother, and we were always playing outside and bringing home stray cats to tame. A story of two stray kittens who are adopted by a brother and sister? It was like it was written for me! It's kind of a quiet story, but I loved the focus on sibling relationships, the mischief both cats and kids get into, the origin of "snot stew," and the emotional arc. It's a cute, endearing book."

- Nilah MagruderNilah is the author of the Dwayne McDuffie Diversity Award-winning webcomic MFKand the upcoming picture book Fox Hunt.

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7. James Kochalka on Moominland Midwinter

"I read Moominland Midwinter as a child, but now I re-read it every winter to my own children. It’s vivd description of Moonintroll’s first experience with winter enhances our own experience with the bitter winters where we live, in Vermont. It has loneliness, fear, the joy of discovery, and even a great deal of humor and adventure. Also, Tove Jansson has a piercing ability to see into the truth of human nature and depict each character with extreme clarity and sensitivity. It’s a work of deep poetic genius and, although it may be written for children, I think it stands toe-to-toe against any adult novel."

- James KochalkaJames is the author of The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza, American Elf, Monkey Vs. Robot, and the SpongeFunnies in the SpongeBob Squarepants comics.

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8. Jorge Aguirre on I STINK!

"I wish my parents had read me a book like this when I was kid. I STINK! is so funny. It is so gross. It is so stinky. I absolutely love how the Garbage Truck takes such pride in his very smelly but very necessary work. Kate and Jim McMullan have a great message here, but it’s not a message book. The theme doesn’t hit you over the head. I suspect—I hope—that there is something on a subconscious level that my kids take from I STINK! about being proud of your work and defending your passion, no matter what others say. And besides, where would we be without trash trucks? We’d be, 'on Mount Trash-rama, baby!’"

- Jorge AguirreJose is the co-author of Giants Beware! and its upcoming sequel Dragons Beware!

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9. Jeff Smith on Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck

"I had many favorite books, but the ones that stayed with me, that I revisited year after year, were my comic books. Specifically Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck when they were written and drawn by the incomparable Carl Barks. My other two favorites were newspaper strip collections of Peanuts by Charles Schulz, which I learned to read with, and Pogo by Walt Kelly.

Carl Barks, known among us kids as “the good duck artist,” had a distinctive style that set him apart from the other Donald Duck creators. In fact, he was probably the best artist and writer working in the entire field of comics. His stories were very different from the simple animated cartoons about a hot tempered duck, often taking Donald and his nephews around the world on fascinating adventures. The stories were longer, tightly plotted, and he had a way of moving the characters across the panels in a way that made them come to life in the readers' imagination. You always knew what one of his characters was thinking or worrying about. You cared what happened! Ingenious, clever, and funny, the Barks Duck Books are still available and published around the world. And they are as readable and immediate to me as an adult as they were when I first discovered them as a child."

- Jeff SmithJeff is the author of the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning graphic novel series Bone.

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10. Andy Runton on How Spider Saved Halloween

"One of my favorite Children's books is How Spider Saved Halloween by Robert Kraus.

This book was huge for me! I had forgotten about it for a long, long time and found it recently at my mom's house. My little copy here from 1973 says it was 95 cents. It's a small (6.5" x 6.75"), unassuming softcover book that's very thin (32 pages), and I carried it around all over. There were lots of other books, but the drawing style for this one is simple and pure and it was easily accessible to me. My mom probably loved it because it was short and I loved the simple colors and the straightforward storytelling. Reading it again, I can really see how much it influenced me...and it's still as delightful and charming as I remember."

- Andy Runton

Andy is the author of the Eisner, Harevey, and Ignatz Award-winning Owly series.

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11. Noelle Stevenson on Andrew Henry's Meadow

It's a story about a kid, a middle child of five (I'm also a middle child of five), who doesn't quite fit in with his family or they don't really understand him or appreciate his constant construction projects and inventions, so he runs away and builds himself his own perfect house in the meadow. All these other kids run away from THEIR families too and he builds all of them houses specially suited to their interests in the meadow with him. So it's this little commune of misfits living together in their own awesome houses away from their parents. I was obsessed with it. I had a lot of fantasies like that as a kid, of running away and building a place specially designed just for me, especially since, like Andrew Henry, I didn't really feel like I fit in with my family or that they quite understood me. And, like Andrew Henry, I liked being on my own, which is hard to come by in a family of seven, so this book was pretty much a tailor-made fantasy for me. I read it over and over. It's such a pleasant book. And at the end, all the families decide that they miss their children, and they're all reunited and Andrew Henry and his inventions are much more appreciated after that, OF COURSE.

I definitely had a bit of a martyr complex as a kid."

- Noelle StevensonNoelle is the author of the Cartoonist Studio Prize-winning webcomic Nimona and the co-author of Lumberjanes.

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12. Sholly Fisch on A Very Special House

"My favorite children’s book is A Very Special House, written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

In a world filled with the likes of Dr. Seuss, mad tea parties, Encyclopedia Brown, and Harold’s purple crayon, picking just one favorite children’s book is kind of like choosing one color of a rainbow or deciding which end of a chocolate bar tastes best. But, if I had to pick just one, this would be it. I’m a huge, lifelong fan of both Ruth Krauss (A Hole Is to Dig) and Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), and this book celebrates one of my favorite things: the joy and silliness of a child’s boundless imagination, all wrapped up in a monkey, giant, and lion-filled house that’s 'right in the middle, oh it’s ret in the meedle, oh it’s root in the moodle of my head head head.' If I could write something that captures just a fraction of the whimsy and free spirit of A Very Special House, I’d be a very happy camper. My mother loved reading it to my sister and me when we were young, I loved reading it to my own kids years later, and when we came across our copy not too long ago, my now-teenage kids asked me to read it to them again. (Yes, of course I did.)"

- Sholly FischSholly is the writer of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and Scooby-Doo Team-Up.

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13. Lucy Bellwood on The Eleventh Hour

"I came from a family of bookish writers and read voraciously as a kid, so choosing just one favorite feels impossible, but I've recently been thinking a lot about The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base (and, in a similar category, Puzzle Island by Paul Adshead). Both books were beautifully illustrated and contained cunning animal-based visual scavenger hunts and cryptographic mysteries that kept me engrossed for hours on end.

The Eleventh Hour was absolutely bursting with lavish detail that inspired me to start drawing my own animals in costumes and begin pursuing a healthy interest in codebreaking. The story centers around a group of creatures attending Horace the Elephant's 11th birthday party in his opulent mansion. When the centerpiece feast is prematurely devoured, the reader must decipher clues throughout the book to discover the culprit. There were word jumbles and easter eggs and mirror writing and one hundred and eleven hidden mice to pinpoint amongst the endless architectural details and costume components.

I loved this book because there was always something more to discover and I didn't feel like I was being talked down to. Getting the right degree of difficulty in a mystery is a delicate art, and I felt like I was genuinely accomplishing things when I sussed another clue from the visual content. It's something I think about a lot in the work I'm doing on Cartozia Tales right now—it's an all-ages title, and I want there to be something that will challenge readers at every level, whether it's a new vocabulary term or a mind-bending puzzle. Hard work, but worth it."

- Lucy BellwoodLucy is one of the contributors to Cartozia Tales and self-publishes the educational comic Baggywrinkles.

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14. Eleanor Davis on Finn Family Moomintroll

"There are too many to have a favorite, but I love and have read and re-read Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson more times than I can count.

It is goofy and joyful and uncompromising. It's modern and old-fashioned. It's rambling and illogical with a lot of—but not too much—magic. It's the funniest and happiest book in an odd, heartbreaking series that lets you into the author's heart in a way a lot of kids' books do not. And the illustrations, by Jansson herself, are perfect—dense black-and-white line-work worlds to lose yourself in, populated with the lively, bouncing, scuttling characters you're having the pleasure of reading about."

- Eleanor DavisEleanor is the author of the Geisel Award-winning children's graphic novel Stinky and the New York Times bestselling graphic novel How To Be Happy.

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15. Rafael Rosado on Ten Minutes till Bedtime

"A favorite at my house when my girls were little was Ten Minutes till Bedtime, by Peggy Rathmann (her Goodnight Gorilla was a favorite, too).

I have really sweet memories of my wife and I reading this book to my kids, we made a huge production out of it, probably stretched it out to longer than ten minutes! We'd get lost in the illustrations, each spread was so incredibly detailed, so much going on. We found new things every time. I love a book that brings surprises every time you read it!"

- Rafael RosadoRafael is the co-author of Giants Beware! and its upcoming sequel Dragons Beware!

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16. Faith Erin Hicks on Vesper Holly

“My favorite book (actually a series) as a kid was the Vesper Holly series by Lloyd Alexander. There are six books total, but I recommend stopping at the fifth book, The Philadelphia Adventure, as the sixth book is a bit weaksauce.

I was super into the Vesper Holly series when I was eleven years old. I was a very dorky eleven year old. I was home-schooled, my family didn't have a TV, and my career aspirations were things like pro baseball player (even though I didn't play baseball), wild horse tamer (I was super into horses), and joining the X-men (still waiting for that acceptance letter, Prof. X). Vesper was someone I wanted to be when I was 17. She went on adventures, saved the world, did battle with her own personal arch-nemesis, and everyone she met (except for her arch-nemesis) thought she was amazing. She was everything I wanted from a heroine when I was a socially awkward, out-of-the-pop-culture-loop eleven year old. She wasn't a particularly complex character, and neither were her adventures, but at that one moment in time, she was everything to me. I resolved myself to become exactly like her when I turned 17.

Instead, I became a cartoonist, and my adventures mostly revolve around meeting deadlines. My arch-nemesis is my cat, who always wants to be in my lap when I'm working. I don't get to save the world, but I get to make stories myself, like Vesper's creator, Lloyd Alexander. So that's a pretty good trade off. (I'd still like to join the X-men, though.)"

- Faith Erin HicksFaith is the author of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong and the Eisner Award-winning The Adventures of Superhero Girl.

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17. Britt Wilson on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“I guess if I had to choose from so many favorites, it would have to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl illustrated by Joseph Schindelman. My Dad read this book to me and my little brother a chapter or two a night, over and over and over. He must have been so sick of it, but there was something about those tight, squirrelly little black and white illustrations. Plus, I think you really can't go wrong with my sweet tooth and a story set in a candy factory. I'm expecting my own child this spring, and despite multiple readings, my copy is still almost pristine. I can't wait to curl up in a chair and read it to my own son or daughter. I don't mind at all if I have to read it over and over and over."

- Britt WilsonBritt is the author of Cat Dad, King of the Goblins.

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18. Ben Hatke on Rotten Island

"It's hard to pick favorites, but one of the picture books I loved most growing up was Rotten Island by William Steig. It's about an island that is the worst place you can imagine. It has volcanoes that spout lava AND poisoned arrows AND double-headed toads. The island is also full of an endless variety of creatures (some had wheels for legs!) that delight in being bad. The island is thrown into chaos one day when a flower grows there.

I loved it for many reasons, but one reason it was so special to me was that I didn't have a copy of my own. It was at a friend’s house and every time I went over there I would try to sneak away with the book for a few minutes.

The story was also, in my mind, a heartbreaking tragedy. The book explicitly says that the creatures 'loved their rotten life,' but in the end the creatures are driven mad by the flowers and they all kill each other and the island becomes a beautiful paradise. But all those wonderful monsters, who had been so happy being rotten, are gone."

- Ben HatkeBen is the author of the New York Times bestselling Zita the Spacegirl and the upcoming Little Robot.

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19. Aron Nels Steinke on The Snowy Day

"The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats immediately burrowed its way to my heart the first time it was read to me as a young child. I have memories of red-suited Peter, with his pointy red hat and mittens, smacking the snow covered tree along with my own early memories of playing in the snow intertwined. They're inseparable. The book captures the magic and transformative power of snow on a child's landscape like no other book I've ever read. The illustrations are at the same time bold, expressive, and deceptively simple. The Snowy Day is a masterpiece and will always be closest to my heart."

- Aron Nels SteinkeAron is the co-author of The Zoo Box.

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20. Kazu Kibuishi on The Caboose Who Got Loose

"This is an incredibly difficult question to answer! Thankfully, there is one book that I read as a kid that I not only loved, but it also inspired me to draw, so I think I have to choose it. That one book is The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet.

When I was just beginning to learn how to draw and write stories, The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet, Garfield by Jim Davis, and the cartoons of Mort Drucker in MAD Magazine were my biggest influences, and it’s amazing to see how much of those influences appear in the work I do today. As a kid, I was obsessed with finding ways to draw things that looked like they could jump off the page, and it was mostly Bill Peet and Mort Drucker's work that really showed me how immersive cartoons can be. I still see images of Katy Caboose in my head when I draw trains and vehicles. These days I read Bill Peet books to my son, who absolutely loves them!"

- Kazu KibuishiKazu is the author of the New York Times bestselling graphic novel series Amulet.

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21. David Gallaher on Bridge to Terabithia

"For my tenth birthday, my parents gave me a copy of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. I don't quite remember what prompted me to devour the book so quickly, I guess I thought I'd level up as a reader or something when I completed it. I finished the whole thing in three days; so in retrospect, I think I did. Beyond having a childhood crush on Leslie Burke and trying to 'behave more like a king' in my own backyard makeshift version of Terabithia, I was taken in by how much I was similar to the main character Jesse. I had hoped for very different things in the book. I was 'shipping' Leslie and Jesse Terabithia fanfiction before that was even a thing. At ten, Leslie Burke was the kinda girl that I thought I'd want to marry (seriously, I wasn't kidding about the crush)—but I discovered a different sort of crush when I got to the end. I was heart-broken for days. What stuck with me about the story, and the reason why it stays with me, is...that...despite its tragic ending, there was still wonder, hope, and imagination that continued to shine even after the book ended.

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22. Chris Schweizer on True Grit

"My favorite children’s book is True Gritby Charles Portis. It’s the first-person account of fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross’s journey into the Oklahoma territory to capture her father’s killer. It may not be widely considered a kids’ book, but I give copies to kids (late elementary and up) whenever I have the opportunity. It’s great for girls and for boys, very funny, strongly rooted in a sense of history, exciting, and, best of all, masterfully written.

If you’ve never read it, forget your expectations and give it a try; it’s a genuine classic up there with Anne of Green Gables, Huck Finn, and Sounder, and is downright fun to read. It’s a book that deserves a wider audience among youngsters (especially in educational settings), and, more importantly, those youngsters deserve a book as good as this one."

- Chris SchweizerChris is the author of The Crogan Adventures and the upcoming The Creeps.

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23. Nathan Jurevicius on SprĪdĪtis

"SprĪdĪtis, written by Anna Brigadere and illustrated by Evalds Dajevskis, was given to me by my Latvian and Lithuanian grandparents and the edition I have was printed in 1973 (the year I was born).

The writing focuses on the underdog hero, SprĪdĪtis, a young boy and his battle with mythological Baltic nature spirits and gods. There's an aspect of this theme in much of my story telling, in particular the lone, seemingly insignificant character changing the world.

Illustrator Evalds Dajevskis' use of color and environmental design has also shaped the way I approach composition and light."

- Nathan Jurevicius Nathan is the author of the upcoming graphic novel Junction.

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24. John Martz on Alligator Pie

"Alligator Pie, a book of poems by Dennis Lee with pictures by Frank Newfeld, published in 1974. It's a book I have the earliest memories of reading and trying to decipher. Most of the poems are short and nonsensical like nursery rhymes or playground songs. Like a lot of nursery rhymes, logic comes second to rhythm, repetition, and evocative imagery, so the poems are playful and musical and strange. Dennis Lee would go on to write most of the songs for Fraggle Rock, including the catchy theme.

It's a book, too, that is unabashedly Canadian. I live in Toronto, but I didn't grow up here. As a kid I was fascinated by Toronto, and I think Alligator Pie helped mythologize the city—the poems casually reference Canadian places and imagery without being poems about those things ("Someday I'll go to Winnipeg to win a peg-leg pig"), including many Toronto street names and landmarks like the CN Tower and Casa Loma. And of course I was drawn to the illustrations by Frank Newfeld, which are somewhat psychedelic—graphic line drawings with vibrant, unnatural colours. The images are pieces of graphic design as much as they are drawings, and some of the full-page illustrations are almost like comics the way they are divided into different panels and tableaus.

Alligator Pie is in my blood. I've read it countless times, and I'll read it countless more. It taught me how to play with the rhythm and the structure of words, and it instilled in me a sense of the bizarre—nursery rhymes don't have to make any sense for them to make perfect sense."

- John MartzJohn is the author of A Cat Named Tim And Other Stories, Machine Gum, and Destination X.

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25. Ariel Cohn on Harold and the Purple Crayon

"Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson, was my favorite book as a young child. As an adult, an author, and the mother of a young child who loves story time, the book's simplicity and sparse illustrations still manage to capture my attention and lead me through Harold's imaginative wanderings. There is not a wasted line or word in the entire book, and even though it is obviously very imaginative, it takes itself quite seriously, which I think is important; children need to feel that their fantasy lives are valid and serious affairs. I know I felt that way as a child. The book portrays the characteristics of a young child: sometimes simple, sometimes serious, sometimes extravagant (who needs nine kinds of pie at a picnic?), often silly, and occasionally lonely and ready for bed. Harold and the Purple Crayon captures all of this in just a few simple sentences and basic line drawings. I don't know of another book that accomplishes this task so well."

-Ariel CohnAriel is the co-author of The Zoo Box.

Special thanks to Gina Gagliano of First Second for her help in facilitating this article.

Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
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